L’Abeille à Côté, a more casual version of L’Abeille on Greenwich and Laight, is taking walk-ins tonight and will begin accepting reservations tomorrow. The menu is a fun French-meets-Japanese-meets-American-bistro from the L’Abeille chef Mitsunobu Nagae.

There are just 20 seats inside but eventually there will be a total of 24 on the sidewalk stretching to the corner of Laight. The outdoor space will only offer the “à côté” menu. The plan is to always have walk-ins available most nights, which I hope works out — it’s a very neighborhood-friendly approach. But NB this is a new twist for Tribeca: there’s a dress code of “smart casual” — no tank tops, flip flops, shorts and/or sweatpants. (Does that mean no sleeveless tops for women??) Scratch that! That is the dress code for L’Abeille proper.

Photo by Liz Clayman

Tribecan Rahul Saito spent the lockdown having weekly dinners prepared by Nagae, one of his favorite chefs from the Michelin-starred Midtown restaurant Shun, as a way to support him while restaurants were closed. Those meals are what they now try to replicate at L’Abeille (and the name is a riff on the chef’s nickname, Mitsu, which means honey in Japanese, hence “l’abeille” — the bee). Nagae and Yoshie Oda are now also owners.

They then took the space next door, or à côté in French, and the space after that for the brand-new Sushi Ichimura. The back of the house is connected for all three restaurants.

Photo by Liz Clayman

The menu (see below) is along the lines of Wagyu beef teriyaki burgers ($32), fried chicken ($28), sea bass in a crispy Japanese pastry shell that’s shaped like a fish — typical Japanese street food ($34).

More TK when I can get in there.

L’Abeille à Côté
412 Greenwich | Laight & Hubert
212.542.3897
info@labeilleacote.nyc
Tuesday to Thursday: 5 to 10p
Friday and Saturday: 5 to 11p
Sunday and Monday: Closed